Family finds renewed hope in new approach to search for missing Tooele man

TOOELE, Utah — Family members were hoping Tuesday that a new approach from police might help to bring answers in the case of a man who vanished from his home more than 10 months ago.

Rick Morris, 32, was last seen by family members on June 25, 2021.

“Rick is a Type 1 diabetic, so he needs insulin, and our mom noticed that he was acting strange,” said sister Mariah Morris in an interview with KSL TV. “They gave him a sandwich. He ate it. They went to check on him after to see how his blood sugar was and he disappeared.”

Morris said her brother left behind his phone, insulin and other personal belongings.

Since that time, there has been no sign.

“We’ve done a lot of searches in the mountains, in the fields, in the neighborhoods and we haven’t found anything,” the sister said.

Tooele Police Lt. Jeremy Hansen said officers in his department have spent hundreds of man hours looking for Morris without any success.

This weekend, however, they are trying out a new idea.

“The family is going to be passing out flyers we created,” Hansen said. “The flyers have a QR code on them that you scan with your phone and it takes you to an investigative lead sheet that, once submitted, goes directly to the lead detective.”

Hansen said the hope is that Tooele residents can help focus future searches, either by passing on new leads, or determining that their properties have nothing of interest.

“We’re looking for everything up to and including the clothing that he was wearing, which we believe is jeans, black tennis shoes,” Hansen said. “He was always known to carry a flashlight — that’s why those items are on that flyer.”

Hansen encouraged people to check places like tall grasses or weeds on their properties and even sheds if they have remained largely untouched over the last year.

“We’re lost on where to go from here,” Mariah Morris acknowledged.

The lack of answers, she said, has been trying on Morris’ mother and the other family members.

“There’s weeks where I’ll let myself think that he’s out somewhere,” she said. “Then there’s days where I’ll remember going into his room and seeing how it was left and I’ll come back to reality that he’s probably dead.”

The sister said she was hopeful the new approach might bring the family closer to answers about what happened to Morris.

“He deserves to come home to us,” she said. “I just hope that people will help us find him.”

Anybody with information about the case is asked to contact Tooele Police Department and Detective Curtis at 435-882-5918.